Only 10 days into the Major League Baseball regular season, it’s far too early for the New York Yankees to panic, but things aren’t looking too good for the Bronx bombers right now. Short-stop and team captain Derek Jeter is out for an undetermined period of time because of a strained quadriceps and catcher Jorge Posada is on the mend due to a sore shoulder. It’s even rumored that manager Joe Girardi would like to play Alex Rodriguez at short temporarily if not permanently. As a remedy to the problem, on Wednesday the Yankees called up Alberto Gonzalez from Triple-A Columbus.
New York (4-5) has lost the first two games of its current eight-game road trip to the Kansas City Royals (6-1), the team currently holding down first place in the American League Central.
Thursday, the Yankees will attempt to salvage the remaining game of their series with the Royals. The Yankees will pin their hopes on the pitching of lefthander Andy Pettitte in this game. Pettitte has a 0-1 record and a 5.40 ERA this season. Starting for the Royals will be John Bale. The lefthander has a 5.69 ERA to go along with a 0-1 record this season.
Oddsmakers at online sports wagering giant Bodoglife.com currently have the Yankees listed as 143-moneyline favorites versus the Royals, while the game's total is sitting at 10.
The Royals blanked the Yankees 4-0 behind the pitching of Zack Greinke who went eight innings for the win allowing just six hits. John Buck homered and finished 2-for-4 at the plate for the Royals. Alex Rodriguez went 2-for-4 at the plate for the Yankees. Kyle Farnsworth gave up two runs off four hits in two innings to suffer the loss.The Royals won the game as +110 underdogs, while the four runs fell UNDER the posted over/under (9).
Following today’s game, the Yankees will fly to Boston to begin a three game weekend series with their arch-rivals Red Sox.
